Having kept strict radio silence for the past week, we have been alternating between amazement that the Oilers are this close to the ceiling of the salary cap and dismay that the expectations for the team are so low going into next season.

Yesterday, I posted an article on the point production of first-line forwards. In it, I showed that an NHL-average first liner put up 66 points last season, while a player with 51 points was still producing at a first line rate.

However, a couple of commenters raised the question: don’t good teams generally get more points out of their first-line players?

The answer that my initial instinct suggests on the question above is 82. If a player isn’t putting up a point-per-game, he’s probably not a first line forward. Fortunately, we have better resources at our disposal than my gut instinct.